frankendodger sheet 36 (cards 316-324) - mccourt makes the set...

here's sheet number 36 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 316-324:

and the back:

these cards are:

316. 2001 topps archives jackie robinson
317. 1993 score select carlos hernandez
318. 1979 topps bob welch
319. 2013 topps allen & ginter's matt kemp
320. 1995 upper deck mike piazza
321. 1960 topps ron fairly
322. 1977 topps bill russell
323. 2010 topps jim thome
324. 1959 topps don demeter

the "no brainer" of the day:

there are some pretty key cards here, but i wanted to get a version of jackie's 1952 topps card into the set, so that one is the biggest no brainer of the bunch.

about the cards:

first things first - the 2001 archives jackie robinson card is numbered 312 on the back, but i have it at number 316.  that's because 312 was jackie's card number in the original 1952 topps set (the first of the high numbers).  you have to look really closely at the fine print on the back

to see that the card is numbered 316 out of 450 in the archives set.  jackie's original '52 topps card

is one of the highlights of my collection, and i am happy to have it represented in the frankenset.

the back of carlos hernandez's 1993 select card anoints him as the "heir apparent to mike scioscia" in the dodger catching lexicon, but unfortunately for carlos, there was another.  thankfully for us dodger fans, there was a bob welch card in 1979 to collect after the rookie struck out reggie jackson to end game 2 of the 1978 world series. that put the dodgers up 2 games to 0, but it would be the last dodger highlight of the season.  there is no mention of welch's world series experience on the back of the card, which was disappointing to me when i pulled my first copy of this card from a pack.  still, two years later, i was still able to use the "he struck out reggie" to pry welch cards away from the yankee fan across the street.

matt kemp's 2013 a&g card is here to remind me that he was once my favorite dodger, and the guy that i hoped would break eric karros's franchise home run record.  of course, i thought that the next guy on the sheet would have been the one to set the franchise home run record.  mike piazza is, of course, the catcher that blocked carlos hernandez from fulfilling the prophecy noted on the back of the select card earlier on the page.  i like his 1995 upper deck card because it focuses on piazza the catcher (at least on the front) instead of giving us another card of him standing at the plate.  both kemp and piazza (and steve garvey) wound up in san diego playing for the padres.  hopefully that trend doesn't continue.

ron fairly's 1960 topps card is cool because of the big ol' rookie cup/trophy.  1960 was the first year that topps had the rookie cup in their set, and i am still a bit upset that they took a few years off from putting the cup on cards - most notably 1974 when davey lopes would have had one and from 1982-1984 when fernando, saxy, and greg brock would have all been rocking the cup.

bill russell's 1977 topps card balances out the kemp and piazza cards in that it reminds me that it is (or at least was) possible for a player to stay with one club for a lengthy career.  of course, russell was unceremoniously dismissed by the team as its manager, and wound up wearing a tampa bay devil rays uniform as a coach and minor league manager.

jim thome's 2010 topps card was another card that i highly anticipated.  i was worried that topps would leave thome out until series 2 by when they would have photoshopped him into his twins uniform.  well, i got a thome dodger card in series one that i am pretty sure includes former dodger owner frank mccourt just to the right of thome's shinguard. thome was an odd pickup for the dodgers, as he was only available for pinch-hitting duty, but the dodgers are no strangers to carrying pinch-hitting specialists once the rosters expand.  the dodgers are the only team for which thome played that he did not hit a home run. for the record, his 2010 season in minnesota, the first year of target field, was fantastic. he was a huge fan favorite and had some big hits for the club.

lastly, we have don demeter's 1959 topps card.  not yellow like most of the other dodger cards in the set, this card is a welcome sight in my team binder even if the image shows demeter not acting natural, and is the same one that topps used for his 1958 card.

cards that didn't make the cut:

i passed over a few cards when putting this sheet together such as 1995 pinnacle raul mondesi at number 316, 2015 topps clayton kershaw at number 317, 1980 topps jerry reuss

at number 318, 2002 fleer tradition marquis grissom at number 319, 1996 score hideo nomo at number 320, 1997 topps eric karros

at number 321, 1972 topps jose pena at number 322, 1958 topps elmer valo

at number 323, and 1973 topps al downing at number 324.

my favorite card on the page:

oh the joy of having a bob welch card in 1979! it is easily my favorite card on the page.

final thoughts:

i am so glad that we aren't hearing anything about either of the mccourts these days.

frankendodger sheet 26 (cards 226-234) - getting carried away with russell...

here's sheet number 26 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 226-234:

and the back:

these cards are:

226. 1971 topps bill russell
227. 2007 upper deck first edition wilson betemit
228. 1979 topps vic davalillo
229. 1991 leaf jim gott
230. 2006 topps heritage jason phillips
231. 1964 topps dick calmus
232. 2010 topps national chicle roy campanella
233. 1992 topps mitch webster
234. 1960 topps don demeter

the "no brainer" of the day:

once i knew which cards were available to me for this sheet, bill russell's second year card was a lock for the first spot.

about the cards:

now bill russell is on a streak of consecutive sheets.  this page features his second year card with a photo from spring training in 1969.  we know this by the colorful holman stadium seats and the mlb anniversary patch on his sleeve, although it is conceivable that the photo is from 1970 if the dodgers re-used their uniforms during spring training as they did in back in 1938.  wilson betemit makes his frankenset debut with his 2007 first edition card. betemit spent about a year with the dodgers, coming at the trade deadline in 2006 and leaving at the trade deadline in 2008.

vic davalillo was plucked by the dodgers from the mexican league in 1977 after a two-year absence from the majors.  he paid dividends as a pinch-hitter with a two-out bunt to start the game winning rally in the 9th inning of game 3 of the 1977 nlcs against the phillies.  his 1979 card is his last card from topps, even though he played for the dodgers into the 1980 season.

jim gott was a pretty good reliever for the dodgers, especially if you ignore his final season with the club (1994). from 1990-1993, gott had an era of 2.36 in 235 games. opponents hit just .237 with an ops of .637 against him in that span, and he allowed just 31% of his inherited runners to score.  however, as his 1991 leaf card shows, he's still wearing bobby welch's number as far as i am concerned.

jason phillips was one of jim tracy's legion of ja(y)sons - phillips, werth, grabowski, and repko - that received a fair amount of playing time in their 91 loss 2005 season.  phillips was with the blue jays and tracy was out of a job by the time his 2006 heritage card was issued.  i still do not know what is going on in the background of dick calmus's 1964 topps card, but i am obligated to tell you, in light of recent events, that calmus was younger than julio urias when he started a game for the dodgers in 1963.

horizontal campanella from the 2010 national chicle set is a nice card with the brooklyn bridge in the background.  the card almost makes me forget that we have seen that campy swing image on so many cards from topps.  mitch webster is wearing don sutton's jersey on his 1992 topps card, which is not a bad card, nor is it a bad thing that the dodgers were allowing others to wear sutton's number up until his election to the hall of fame. what doesn't make sense (to me) is jason grabowski wearing steve garvey's number (no offense meant, jason) or no one wearing fernando's number 34, but not officially retiring it.

finally, we have don demeter for whom topps finally used a new photo instead of recycling the one they used in 1958

and 1959 (not pictured, but you get the idea).

cards that didn't make the cut:

i could have used, but i chose not to use the following cards (among others) on this sheet: 1984 donruss dusty baker at number 226, 1990 score jay howell at number 227, 1978 topps manny mota

at number 228, 1996 pinnacle raul mondesi at number 229, 1977 o-pee-chee rick monday

at number 230, 1981 topps joe beckwith at number 231, 1989 topps ricky horton featuring a similar, but better shot than ramon martinez's card that was on yesterday's sheet

at number 232, 1998 fleer ultra paul konerko at number 233, and 1988 donruss baseball's best jesse orosco at number 234.

my favorite card on the page:

today it's between russell and campanella.  i'll go with campy today because i feel a bit more artsy. had the rick monday opc card made the sheet (meaning, if i had a third copy of it), it would have been my favorite in a runaway.

final thoughts:

i think topps whiffed on 2006 heritage. the colors seem to be too washed out compared to many from the original 1957 set.  they did pretty well with 2009 heritage, as the cards look a lot like the demeter above.  it's too bad that they used so many pictures from holman stadium for the dodgers, though.